The life and struggles of Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington

As news of Chester Bennington’s death travels around the globe, fans can’t help but remember him as the fresh-faced grunge singer they first fell in love with seventeen years ago.

He was just 24 when rock band Linkin Park first catapulted into the music scene, scoring an army of fans with their unique blend of rock, hip hop and electronica.

But despite going on to change the face of music by making rock accessible to all, Chester struggled personally.

Over the span of his career, the band's frontman struggled with the effects of being sexually abused as a child, and fought a relentless drug and alcohol addiction.

Ultimately, it seems it was his internal battles that caused his heartbreaking passing yesterday morning, when Chester was found dead by suicide at the age of just 41.

He'd been in the public eye since 2000, when nu-metal band Linkin Park first came into our lives with the launch of their debut album Hybrid Theory.

Chester had been working towards success for many years before that but in the late 90s his luck changed when he landed a vocialist slot in an LA band, Xero.

Xero would later change their name to Linkin Park, which was inspired by Santa Monica’s famous Lincoln Park.

Their debut album sold more than 4.8 million copies in a year and is widely considered one of the best rock albums of all time, containing the hit songs, "Crawling", "In the End", and "Faint".

But even before the ups and down of fame, the singer was battling with depression and anxiety, something he used substances to help medicate in his early teens.

He previously told Metal Hammer mag that he’d been abused by an older male when he was just seven, but was too “afraid” to say anything.

The devastating abuse caused him to turn to drugs and he admitted to taking opium, amphetamines, marijuana and cocaine alongside alcohol.

However, in 1992 he found the strength to ditch drugs and was reportedly clean when Linkin Park first became famous.

Later, Chester would go on to bravely admit that the song "Crawling" was about “feeling like I had no control over myself in terms of drugs and alcohol.”

He continued to draw inspiration from his struggles and noted the irony that his demons had helped him succeed.

“That feeling, being able to write about it, sing about it - those words sold millions of records, I won a Grammy, I made a lot of money,” he told Noisecreep in 2009.

The band continued to rise with the release of their next album Meteora which topped the Billboard 200 album chart in 2003, followed by an extensive world tour.

Already married to first wife, Samantha Olit, with whom he had a son Draven Sebastian, aged 1 at the time, life should have been good.

But their success continued to climb, the "One Step Closer" singer’s mental health went in the opposite direction.

It was during this time that he slipped back into his addiction.

"The tours we did in the beginning, everybody … was either drinking or doing drugs," his bandmate Mike Shinoda once told The Guardian.

Despite the troubles in Chester's offstage life, the band continued to rise. In 2004 they had a high-profile collaboration with Jay-Z, with the recording of "mash-up" album Collision Course.

However his personal life was still spiralling. The dad of three, he also had sons Jaime and Isaiah, from a previous relationship before his marriage to Samantha, was in trouble.

After splitting from his wife of almost 10 years, things hit a low for Chester but musically he pushed forward.

By the time the group released their third studio album, Minutes To Midnight in 2007, Chester had cleaned up thanks to an intervention from his bandmates the year before.

“I had a choice between stopping drinking or dying…I did some counselling with the [Linkin Park] guys and they really opened up and told me how they felt,” he told Metal Hammer in a 2016 interview.

“I had no idea that I had been such a nightmare.”

It was around this time he married his second wife Talinda, with whom he’d go on to have three more kids Lila, Tyler and Lily.

Linkin Park continued to storm the charts over the rest of the decade, with the release of the album A Thousand Suns.

The dad-of-six became very open about his previous drug and alcohol addiction, telling Noisecreep in 2009: “It’s not cool to be an alcoholic. It’s not cool to go drink and be a dumbass. It is cool to be a part of recovery.”

Out of the darkness came a friendship with Audioslave and Soundgarden rock ‘n’ roll singer, Chris Cornell, that Chester would go on to treasure so dearly.

But it's believed Chris' tragic demise reportedly took Chester to an early grave.

The singers initially bonded when Chris opened for Linkin Park during a tour of Australia in 2007.

When they performed on Cornell’s 44th birthday in July 2008, Chester led the crowd in a rendition of “Happy Birthday”.

The pair went on to collaborate many times over the years, paying tribute to one another by singing each other’s songs.

Linkin Park by now had unprecedented success for a rock band. Their albums Living Things in 2012 and The Hunting Party two years later both hit the number one spot.

It seemed life was good for Chester, especially when in 2013 he took on another singing side-project as the frontman of Stone Temple Pilots where he replaced the departing Scott Weiland.

In 2014, Linkin Park band was declared as the "Biggest Rock Band in the World Right Now" by Kerrang.

This accolade may have been what contributed to Chester deciding to leave the Stone Temple Pilots to focus purely on Linkin Park again a year later.

The rockers' well-received seventh album, One More Light was released on May 19, 2017, taking their sales to over 70 million albums worldwide.

But tragically, the day before its release, Chester’s close friend Chris Cornell died by suicide after a long battle with depression and substance abuse.

It was a huge shock as the Soundgarden singer had performed the night before.

The news rocked Chester to his core, with the devastated vocalist writing an emotionally charged letter to his pal that he shared on social media.

“I’m still weeping with sadness, as well as gratitude for having shared some very special moments with you and your beautiful family,” he wrote.

Adding: “You have inspired me in many ways you could never have known… Your voice was joy and pain, anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all rolled into one.”

Days later, he sang an emotional rendition of the Leonard Cohen's song ‘Hallelujah’ at his pal's private funeral in Hollywood.

After, he continued with his commitments, performing with Linkin Park as recently as the start of July in the UK.

But on the morning of July 20 (US time) he was found dead in his LA home. In a heartbreakingly cruel twist, it would have been his good friend Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday.

Despite appearing to be able to cope with his mental struggles, Chester Bennington told Metal Hammer just a year earlier success didn’t mean life was good.

“The idea that success equals happiness pisses me off," he said to the publication. "It's funny to think that just because you're successful you're now immune to the full range of the human experience.”

Chester leaves behind his devastated wife Talinda, a former Playboy model, who he was married to for 12 years, and his six kids.

RELATED: Did Chester Bennington hint at suicide in song lyrics?
RELATED: Stars we've lost in 2017

Chris Cornell’s widow Vicky has tweeted at her heartbreak regarding the loss of Chester Bennington, saying “Just when I thought my heart couldn’t break any more…..I love you T.”

RIP Chester Bennington. You will be dearly missed.

If you are concernedabout the mental health of yourself or a loved one, seek support and information by calling Lifeline 13 11 14, Mensline 1300 789 978, or Kids Helpline 1800 551 800

Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram